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Nintendo's Jim Merrick talks about new closer links with developers

By IGN Staff

Jim Merrick is Nintendo's chief of software engineering. At a recent meeting with developers at the company's Seattle offices, he spoke of the need for Nintendo to work more closely with software partners.

"We have recognized that external developers need more help," he said. "16-bit was almost self-supporting as it was building on the NES technology, but the N64 is a significantly different machine to any other console out there." He added: "We immediately recognized the importance of the quality issue and have been very careful about who we choose to work with, but we've perhaps been a little too tight-lipped. Developers have been pretty isolated. By running events such as this conference we're now looking to create a greater sense of community. "We welcome applications from new development companies who want to support the N64, but we will look very carefully at how they are resourced, their talents and financial stability. If we ask someone to do an N64 game we want them to succeed and believe that they can, but it can be difficult for some companies to meet the criteria that we set. We still want to hear from people though."